Trump’s MAGA allies forced to face protesters - including a bear - heckling lawmakers for their ‘failed coup’

Alex Woodward
Thu, 13 June 2024 

Donald Trump’s closest congressional allies were forced to walk through protesters while they marched to meet with the former president during his first visit to the Capitol since a mob of his supporters stormed the halls of Congress on January 6.

Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan passed through protesters blasting them for their “failed coup” to reverse Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.

Others shouted out “bootlicker” and “don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”

Another protester in a bear costume held up a sign reading “bigger tax breaks, bigger profit.”

Lawmakers met with Trump on Thursday at the Capitol Hill Club, where a pipe bomb was discovered on January 6, 2021, when Trump’s supporters broke through police barricades and Capitol windows and doors to stop Congress from certifying 2020 election results.

Federal law enforcement is still searching for a suspect.

Lauren Boebert walks past a ‘failed coup’ sign on her way to a meeting with House Republicans and Donald Trump at the Capitol Hill Club on June 13. (Getty Images)

The former president – who is criminally charged in Washington, DC, and in Georgia for his failed efforts to overturn those results, and for his failure to stop the mob – returned to the nation’s capital for the first time on Thursday since a jury convicted him in New York for his conspiracy to influence the outcome of the 2016 race.

Marjorie Taylor Greene walks past a protester in a bear costume before a meeting with Donald Trump at the Capitol Hill Club on June 13. (AP)

He is expected to meet with GOP leadership in the House and Senate, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who hasn’t been in the same room with Trump since 2020.


GIVES THE FASCIST FIST SALUTE

Matt Gaetz heads to a meeting with House Republcians and Donald Trump at the Capitol Hill Club on June 13. (Getty Images)

In his meeting with House Republicans, Trump reportedly brought up Taylor Swift, praised Dwight D. Eisenhower as “the king of deportations,” and dumped on Milwaukee – where Republicans are expected to formally elect him as the GOP’s nominee to face Joe Biden in November – as a “horrible city.”

“President Trump talked about the specific strategies he was going to use to ensure that Trump voters show up in November and that they go all the way down the ticket,” Gaetz told reporters outside the Capitol Hill Club. “He was there to really let Republicans know that he was there to elect big majorities in the House and the Senate, and that he thought that would be essential to getting his agenda accomplished.”

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Executives of telehealth company accused of fraud that gave easy access to addictive Adderall drug

JAIMIE DING
Thu, June 13, 2024 

FILE - Adderall XR capsules are displayed on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023. The founder and CEO of a California telemedicine company, as well as its clinical president, have been arrested for allegedly distributing Adderall online and conspiring to commit health care fraud through reimbursements for the medication, officials said Thursday, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Top executives of a California-based online mental health company were arrested on allegations of improperly prescribing addictive stimulants like Adderall during the coronavirus pandemic and exacerbating the shortage of the drugs for those who medically need them, officials said Thursday.

Ruthia He, the founder and CEO of Done Global Inc., and clinical president David Brody were arrested Thursday in Los Angeles and San Rafael, California, respectively, for allegedly conspiring to provide easy access to Adderall and other stimulant drugs, which are largely used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, in exchange for a monthly subscription fee, the U.S. Justice Department announced.

Done Global allegedly helped prescribe more than 40 million pills of Adderall and other stimulants, and earned over $100 million in revenue, prosecutors said. He and Brody could not be reached for comment, and it was unclear if they have hired attorneys. Done Global did not immediately respond to an email asking for comment.


He and Brody are accused of instructing providers on Done Global to prescribe stimulant drugs even if the patient did not qualify, disincentivizing follow-up appointments by only paying based on the number of patients who received prescriptions, and requiring intake appointments to be under 30 minutes, the Justice Department said.

“As alleged, these defendants exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to develop and carry out a $100 million scheme to defraud taxpayers and provide easy access to Adderall and other stimulants for no legitimate medical purpose,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.

On Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of “potential disrupted access to care” for people who rely on the platform or other telehealth platforms like it to receive medication that could affect 30,000 to 50,000 patients nationwide. There is an ongoing shortage of several prescription drugs used to treat ADHD, including Adderall. The CDC urged people to avoid using medication acquired from anyone other than a licensed clinician and pharmacy.

Last February, the Drug Enforcement Administration said it planned to reinstate longstanding federal requirements for an in-person doctor's visit to receive a prescription for addictive drugs such as OxyContin or Adderall amid growing concerns that some startup telehealth companies were improperly prescribing them.

“In many cases, Done Global prescribed ADHD medications when they were not medically necessary,” DEA official Anne Milgram said in a statement. “Any diversion of Adderall and other prescription stimulant pills to persons who have no medical need only exacerbates this shortage and hurts any American with a legitimate medical need for these drugs.”

Prosecutors allege He and Brody continued to distribute drugs in this manner after knowing of social media posts that Done Global patients had overdosed and died, the news release said. The two also allegedly lied to pharmacies and health insurance providers to ensure prescriptions were filled and paid for, with Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies paying an excess of about $14 million, according to the news release.

The maximum penalty for He and Brody's charges is 20 years in prison.


California digital health company executives arrested
Amy Larson
Thu, June 13, 2024 



SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Two California digital health company executives were arrested on Thursday for allegedly making $100 million in revenue by funneling Adderall and Ritalin to illegitimate patients.

David Brody, the clinical president of Done, was arrested in San Rafael. Brody will make his first court appearance in a San Francisco courtroom on Thursday afternoon. Ruthia He, the founder and CEO of Done Inc., was arrested in Los Angeles.

Federal investigators said the duo conspired to provide easy access to stimulants over the internet in exchange for monthly subscription fees from patients. A grand jury indictment alleges that the conspiracy’s purpose was for Done executives to unlawfully enrich themselves by prescribing over 40 million pills to patients, many whom were never medically evaluated.

Adderall and Ritalin are prescription stimulant drugs used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Done was founded in 2020 as a Northern California-based digital telemedicine health company that operated on a subscription-based model. Done advertised that it provided online diagnosis, treatment, and refills of medication for ADHD.

In 2022 the FDA issued a nationwide notice of shortages in prescription stimulants, including Adderall and Ritalin. Legitimate patients with ADHD struggled to refill their prescriptions as pharmacies were unable to maintain supplies.

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said, “Instead of properly addressing medical needs, the defendants allegedly made millions of dollars by pushing addictive medications. Any diversion of Adderall and other prescription stimulant pills to persons who have no medical need only exacerbates this shortage and hurts any American with a legitimate medical need for these drugs.”

Parents worried about Adderall shortages as kids start school

Amphetamine-dextroamphetamine is sold generically and under a variety of brand names, including Adderall. Methylphenidate is sometimes sold under the brand name Ritalin. Pharmacists are required to exercise sound professional judgment, and to adhere to professional standards, when making a determination about the legitimacy of a controlled substance prescription.

Brody was a psychiatrist who maintained a DEA registration number and was authorized to prescribe controlled substances in California. Ruthia He owned, controlled, and operated Done.

Done’s prescribers wrote prescriptions for Done members “without an examination, sometimes based solely on a short video or audio communication and limited patient intake documents, or without any video or audio communication at all,” an indictment states.

According to the indictment, the scheme racked up thousands of members by spending millions of dollars on deceptive social media advertisements, as well as by intentionally targeting drug-seeking patients. The indictment was filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court Northern District of California.

Some Done members overdosed and died, Guy Ficco of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation said.

“Instead of prioritizing the health of their customers, He and Brody’s telemedicine company allegedly prioritized profits — more than $100 million worth — by fraudulently prescribing medications,” Ficco said. “This led customers to addiction, abuse, and overdoses, which the company tried to conceal by making false representations to the media in order to deter oversight by government agencies.”

As more health care needs are met through telemedicine, fraud schemes that recklessly exploit digital technologies will be prosecuted, federal officials said.

He_Brody_indictmentDownload

He and Brody are charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. If convicted, He and Brody each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Feds Arrest Telehealth Execs for Overprescribing Adderall

Joe Lancaster
Fri, June 14, 2024 

Milcho Milev | Dreamstime.com


The government has charged two medical executives for allegedly overprescribing prescription stimulants. Unfortunately, there's no sign that any government officials will ever face repercussions for making those same medications harder for people to get in the first place.

On Thursday, the Department of Justice announced that it had arrested two executives at the telehealth company Done Global on several charges, including conspiracy to commit health care fraud and obstruction of justice.

Ruthia He, Done's founder and CEO, and David Brody, the company's clinical president, are alleged to have "exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to develop and carry out a $100 million scheme to defraud taxpayers and provide easy access to Adderall and other stimulants for no legitimate medical purpose," according to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. Adderall is the name-brand prescription stimulant most often used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as other conditions, such as narcolepsy.

In March 2020, at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced that doctors and nurse practitioners could now issue prescriptions for controlled substances via telehealth, relaxing a provision in a 2008 law requiring at least one in-person evaluation first.

He, a former Facebook product designer, founded Done in December 2019, just weeks before COVID-19 reached America's shores. Done raised money from such investors as venture capitalist David Sacks and former NFL quarterback Joe Montana.

In its indictment, the government alleges that company officials "exploited emergency flexibilities during the public health emergency to provide easy access to Adderall and other stimulants that were not for a legitimate medical purpose in the usual course of professional practice." The company found many of its patients through ads on social media.

Prosecutors claim that under the company's policies, patient assessments were limited to 30 minutes and practitioners were expected to issue stimulant prescriptions "even if the Done member did not qualify." (In fact, Done touts the 30-minute initial appointment on its website.) The filing states that Done did not require followup appointments and even refused to reimburse providers for any appointments after an initial consultation—an action undertaken, as He allegedly wrote, to "dis-encourage follow-up."

The indictment charges that Done also created fake documents, including patient records and prior authorizations, to submit "false and fraudulent claims" to pharmacies, as well as to Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers, which "paid in excess of approximately $14 million."

Much of this should be unsurprising: In March 2022, the New York Post covered the proliferation of telehealth firms' social media ads hawking stimulants, which doctors found concerning. That same month, The Wall Street Journal reported that telehealth startups like Done "applied pressure on clinicians to prescribe stimulants, and some [employees] said the companies' initial 30-minute video evaluations often weren't sufficient to diagnose ADHD." In May 2022, Walmart and CVS both announced that they would no longer fill controlled-substance prescriptions from Done. By September 2022, news outlets were reporting that the DEA was investigating Done for potential violations of the Controlled Substances Act.

To substantiate charges of obstruction of justice, the indictment alleges that as public opinion shifted against the company, executives like He and Brody set about "corruptly altering, destroying, and concealing records and documents," including after they received a grand jury subpoena.

The government alleges that Done prescribed 40 million pills and generated $100 million in revenue since the start of the pandemic. Ironically, much of this alleged overprescribing took place as the U.S. experienced a severe Adderall shortage—for which government officials still refuse to accept any responsibility.

As Reason has documented very extensively, the Food and Drug Administration first declared an Adderall shortage in October 2022. Parents stuck at home with their children struggling to pay attention to school over Zoom, along with relaxed rules on telehealth prescriptions, caused ADHD diagnoses to skyrocket.

But the federal government sets annual production caps on controlled substances—including the amphetamines that make up the active ingredients in prescription stimulants like Adderall. And since the start of the Adderall shortage, the government has declined to raise the quotas, keeping the cap in place even as the demand for the drug has gone through the roof.

The DEA noted in its 2023 report that while it was "aware of patient reports that pharmacies are unable to fill prescriptions for their prescribed Adderall or one of its generic versions," it nonetheless "has not implemented an increase to the [quota] for amphetamine at this time." In its report for 2024, the agency "determined" that the existing quotas "are sufficient to supply legitimate medical needs, reserve stocks, and export requirements for 2024."

If the prosecutors' claims are true, Done Global very likely engaged in fraudulent and criminally negligent behavior in order to maximize profits at the expense of its patients—at least one of whom died, allegedly as a result of the company's lax policies.

But for ADHD patients who genuinely depend on medicines like Adderall, the government's actions produced a shortage keeping countless people from accessing a medication that allows them to function better. While Ruthia He and David Brody will be faced with the consequences of their actions, it's unlikely that any government official will ever face the same.

The post Feds Arrest Telehealth Execs for Overprescribing Adderall appeared first on Reason.com.


CEO arrested and accused of running an Adderall drug ring

Grace Eliza Goodwin
Updated Fri, June 14, 2024 

CEO arrested and accused of running an Adderall drug ring

Two telehealth execs have been accused of running an illegal drug scheme.


The DOJ says the executives raked in $100 million by doling out millions of phony prescriptions.


The department says they didn't back down even when they learned some patients had overdosed.

Two executives of a California telehealth company have been arrested and accused of running an illegal Adderall drug scheme to the tune of $100 million.

In a press release on Thursday, the Justice Department announced the arrests of Ruthia He, the founder and CEO of Done Global Inc., and David Brody, the digital-health company's clinical president, in California.

The department alleges that the two executives committed healthcare fraud by remotely distributing Adderall and other stimulants to patients for no medical purpose and then submitting false claims for reimbursement of the drugs.

Prosecutors accuse the pair of not backing down even after they learned Done members had overdosed and died.

"The individuals charged today allegedly disregarded the first rule of medical care — do no harm — in order to maximize profits, and there is no place for such fraud in our healthcare system," Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, said in the Justice Department's press release.

Done Health and attorneys for He and Brody didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Justice Department accuses the defendants of luring drug seekers to the subscription-based healthcare service through millions of dollars of deceptive social-media advertisements.

Prosecutors say they then encouraged doctors in their network to prescribe Adderall, even when a patient didn't qualify, helping them make $100 million in revenue from prescriptions of more than 40 million pills.

He and Brody, prosecutors say, ordered that doctors keep initial patient consultations to under 30 minutes, then set up an auto-refill option to keep patients' prescriptions flowing without the need for follow-up appointments.

The defendants, prosecutors allege, also discouraged doctors from continuously caring for patients by refusing to pay them for any medical visits beyond the initial consultation. Instead, He and Brody paid them for the number of prescriptions they doled out, the department says.

He and Brody, the department alleges, kept the plan going after they were told that people had been posting social-media explainers on how to use Done to get easy access to Adderall and other addictive drugs.

In addition to the drug-conspiracy charges, He and Brody were charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice. Prosecutors allege the pair learned about a grand-jury subpoena and "deleted documents and communications," spoke through encrypted messages, and didn't provide the subpoenaed documents to the grand jury.

This is the first time that anyone has been charged with operating an illegal drug-distribution scheme through a telemedicine company, according to the department.

Both He and Brody face up to 20 years in prison.

Read the original article on Business Insider

What a Chinese port in Perú means for Washington

Jenna Moon
Fri, June 14, 2024 



Insights from The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Foreign Policy, and Bloomberg
The News

A $1.3 billion Chinese-constructed port in Perú is being watched closely by Washington as it monitors Beijing’s growing influence in South America.

The Chancay port, scheduled for launch later this year, will open a direct route between Perú and Shanghai and receive some of the world’s largest ships.
SIGNALS
Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.
Megaport challenges US dominance in Latin AmericaSource: The Wall Street Journal

The deepwater port will give Beijing unparalleled access to South America’s rich resources — raising concerns in Washington that it could lose its influence in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported. Beijing is so invested in the port that Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to attend its inauguration. That has rattled analysts who have closely watched China’s growing sway in the Global South: “It really platforms China in a major new way in South America as the gateway to global markets. It is not just a commercial issue at that point, it is a strategic issue,” Eric Farnsworth, a former high-ranking State Department diplomat, told the Journal.
Port control spat raises questions about Beijing’s involvementSources: Reuters, Foreign Policy

The agreement signed between China’s COSCO Shipping Ports and the Peruvian government has given the firm total control over its operations, due to an “administrative error” in the paperwork included by negotiators. COSCO threatened last month to pull out of the deal if it doesn’t retain full control over the port, Foreign Policy noted. The issue “raises the question of how many other governments have enthusiastically negotiated agreements with Chinese infrastructure investors without understanding all the fine print,” FP columnist Elisabeth Braw wrote.
Second port could work as ‘counterweight’Source: Bloomberg

Concerns over the port have prompted Perú to try to woo back the US. Lima is pitching a second port to US investors in hopes of offering Washington a “counterbalance” to Beijing in the country, Bloomberg reported this week. The Peruvian ambassador to the US told the outlet that “one hundred percent of Lima’s electricity is owned by China, many of the copper mining projects are owned by China,” adding, “the United States has noticed this. But it’s not enough to notice it, action is needed.”

Using China as a Foil, Peru Pitches New Port to American Investors

Antonia Mufarech
Thu, June 13, 2024 a


(Bloomberg) --

Peru is pitching a new port project to investors in the US, describing it as a potential balance to growing Chinese influence over maritime trade in the South American nation.

China’s state-owned Cosco Shipping is set to inaugurate the $1.3 billion Chancay port later this year, which is likely to upend South American trade with Asia. Now, Peruvian officials are trying to use the Chancay example to continue growing the country’s potential as a regional trade hub, with geopolitics in mind.

“It would be a port that could be a counterweight to China’s Chancay project,” Alfredo Ferrero, Peru’s ambassador to the US, told Bloomberg in an interview following a presentation to executives in New York.

The Chancay port has worried American officials, who openly criticize Chinese investments in Latin America that dwarf those of US companies. Peru expects Chinese President Xi Jinping to travel to Peru for Chancay’s inauguration at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference. While Chancay is drawing attention now, it is just the latest example of Chinese investments in Peru.

“One hundred percent of Lima’s electricity is owned by China, many of the copper mining projects are owned by China. China will have the largest port in South America,” Ferrero said. “Objectively, that is the situation and the United States has noticed this. But it’s not enough to notice it, action is needed.”

Ferrero is a former Peruvian trade minister who negotiated a free trade agreement with the US that is still in place. He was named ambassador to the US early this year and has set out to lure fresh investments.

The new port project he is pitching, known as Corio, is almost 700 miles south of Chancay. It is also south of Callao, where DP World and APM operate terminals. The Corio area is also close to the Matarani port, which is already a key copper export hub. Peru’s port authority recently announced a study to understand what cargo demand would look like for Corio.

Ferrero is aware that the idea of the Corio port is at a very early stage. But he says the project has potential because of its proximity to Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, which are all trying to increase lithium production due to demand for electric vehicles.

Ferrero is working to grow awareness of the Corio port project in the US to attract private investors. “The idea is that the American government calls for possible interested parties for them to make the investment,” he said.

That doesn’t mean Peru is only asking American investors to consider the Corio port project, however. But Ferrero hopes American investors will look into it. “Hopefully it’s from the US, but it can be from whichever country that’s interested.”

Bloomberg Businessweek

BRAIN WORM SPEAKS

RFK Jr. doubles down on opposing Gaza cease-fire, invokes Nazi Germany

Lauren Irwin
Fri, June 14, 2024


Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doubled down on his opposition of a cease-fire in Gaza and pointed to what the allied forces did to combat Nazi Germany in the 1940s.

Kennedy joined “Piers Morgan Uncensored” on Thursday and explained his point of view.

“I would say that hostages have to be returned and Hamas has to be disarmed, or else how can you have a peace?” Kennedy said.

Morgan interjected, asking the candidate how he would plan to disarm Hamas.

“We’re not sure how many are left but certainly thousands of them. When they’re embedded now in refugee camps amongst hundreds of thousands of civilians, millions of them,” Morgan said. “And so, every time you … launch an offensive against them, as we saw with the apparent targeted attack of two Hamas terrorists in the Rafah camp, and as you saw with the rescue of these hostages.”

Morgan noted that at least 210 Palestinian civilians were killed by Israel during its rescue operation of four hostages. He then posed another question for Kennedy.

“At what point does this desperation to eliminate the last members of Hamas get overtaken by the sheer volume of civilians being killed in the process, which I cannot believe will do anything longer term than ferment the ideology that drove Hamas in the first place,” Morgan said.

Kennedy responded by detailing an argument between the United Kingdom’s Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944.

“Roosevelt said we have to denazify Germany and if we don’t denazify Germany … the Nazis are gonna rise up and do the same thing again. Churchill did not want an unconditional surrender for the Nazis. He said, ‘We’re gonna have to kill too many civilians to do that and everybody will fight for the death,’ but Roosevelt won that argument,” Kennedy said.

“We killed about 2 million Germans during World War II in order to get to Berlin and denazify it,” he continued. “Today, Germany is the richest country in Europe, it’s one of the most powerful economies in the world. I think it’s the fourth most powerful and nobody’s scared of Germany because it’s a peaceful country.”

Kennedy argued that he doesn’t see how people are making the argument for a cease-fire because Hamas has proved it only has one goal: to eliminate all Jewish people.

He said a cease-fire would reward Hamas “for taking the hostages and they’re gonna keep taking hostages to get more and more advantage.”

ARCHAEOLOGY

Treasure trove dating back centuries pulled from shipwreck 5,000 feet underwater
Brie Stimson
Fri, June 14, 2024 

Nearly 1,000 cultural relics have been recovered from shipwrecks dating back to the Ming Dynasty — from 1368-1644 — including porcelain and pottery, copper coins, and deer antlers, China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) said in a release Thursday.

The underwater excavation of the shipwrecks began last year and shows that people from the Ming Dynasty used the South China Sea, known as the ancient Maritime Silk Road, as an important trade route, Guan Qiang, deputy head of the NCHA, said.

The wrecks were first discovered in 2022, roughly 5,000 feet below the surface near the northwest continental slope of the South China Sea.

A total of 890 relics like coins, pottery and porcelain were found in the first shipwreck and 38, including pottery, porcelain, turban shells and lumber, were excavated from the second wreck.

A total of 890 relics like coins, pottery and porcelain were found in the first shipwreck and 38, including pottery, porcelain, turban shells and lumber, were excavated from the second wreck.

The excavators used the manned Deep Sea Warrior submersible to retrieve the items from the shipwrecks.

The first ship appeared to mainly export porcelain while the second imported wood.

The ships were found 10 nautical miles apart, according to FOX Weather.

The excavators used the manned Deep Sea Warrior submersible to retrieve the items from the shipwrecks.

"The well-preserved relics are of high historical, scientific and artistic value. It may be a world-class archaeological discovery in the deep sea," Yan Yalin, China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage archaeological director said after the ships were first discovered.

CARVINGS ON ANCIENT STONE DISCOVERY LEAVE EXPERTS IN AWE

A preliminary judgment of the cultural relics found in the water after the ships were discovered shows they are believed to be from the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty from 1506 to 1521.

Some of the relics found on two Ming Dynasty-era shipwrecks.

Numerous logs were also found, which were of similar size and neatly stacked, on the other ship. Some items on this ship possibly dated back to the reign of Emperor Hongzhi (1488-1505).

The agency said it was the first time ancient ships sailing and returning to the same sea area had been discovered in the country.

The excavation of the shipwrecks is connected to China's territorial claims on the South China Sea with its "nine-dash-line" policy, which has been disputed in international court.

FOX Weather's Chris Oberholtz contributed to this report.


Ancient Chinese Shipwrecks Reveal Priceless Treasures Dating Back to the Ming Dynasty

Chris Malone Méndez

MENS JOURNAL
Fri, June 14, 2024 

The Ming Dynasty marked a pivotal period in Chinese history. It characterized nearly 300 years of life in region and produced some valuable goods that often still survive to this day behind museum glass.

More than 400 years after the end of the dynasty, scientists are still uncovering treasures from this era. On June 13, China's National Cultural Heritage Administration announced that maritime archaeologists have recovered more than 900 pieces of cultural relics from two shipwrecks in the South China Sea. The mission started last year and was a joint endeavor by various research institutes and a local museum.

The two Ming Dynasty shipwrecks were first discovered in 2022 nearly 5,000 feet below the surface of the South China Sea. According to a statement from the Chinese government, researchers excavated 890 artifacts from the first one, including copper coins and porcelain and pottery items, and 38 pieces of history from the second one, such as lumber, porcelain and pottery products, turban shells, and deer antlers.

The finds seemingly indicate that the South China Sea was a well-traveled route for the Chinese back then. According to NCHA deputy head Guan Qiang, the ships likely saw some historic encounters and exchanges along the Maritime Silk Road. The discoveries at such a deep part of the ocean, Guan said, speak to incredible accomplishments in maritime archaeology.



You truly never know what lies beneath the surface.

Carvings on ancient stone discovery leave experts in awe

Andrea Vacchiano
Thu, June 13, 2024 

Carvings on ancient stone discovery leave experts in awe
Spanish archaeologists uncovered an ancient alphabet while excavating an ancient Tartessian site.

Spanish archaeologists recently announced the discovery of an ancient stone with perplexing symbols carved onto it.

The symbols, experts believe, are actually an ancient alphabet. If their interpretation of the tablet is correct, the slab is the third-ever "southern Paleo-Hispanic alphabet of which there is evidence," according to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

In a press release translated from Spanish to English, CSIC explained that the stone was discovered at the Casas del Turuñuelo, which are Tartessian ruins in the southwestern Spanish province of Badajoz. The slate is around 8 inches long and dates back as early as 600 B.C.

Tartessos was an ancient civilization that occupied the southern Iberian Peninsula over 3,000 years ago. The civilization is considered "lost" because of how few remnants of it survive, and the discovery of the slate is part of a project called "Building Tartessus".

"[The study's] main objective is to characterize the Tartessian material culture through the architectural analysis of the large adobe buildings excavated in recent decades and introduce the concept of architecture as an integrated element in the territory," the CSIC's

On the stone tablet, experts identified "what appears to be a sequence of 21 signs drawn within the framework of the tablet on which figures were also found of warriors."

Tartessos was an ancient civilization that occupied the southern Iberian Peninsula over 3,000 years ago - and experts are working to decode the civilization's alphabet.

Joan Ferrer i Jané, a researcher from the University of Barcelona, recognized the artifact as Tartessian.

"Beyond the figures, when I looked at the plate, I saw that on one of the sides there seemed to be a Paleo-Hispanic sign, a sign that cannot be confused with any other," he explained. "Other strokes compatible with signs of a known sequence [were also seen]."

"This alphabet has 27 signs and is the only complete one we know to date," he added. "Another was found in the excavation of Villasviejas del Tamuja (Cáceres) but it is very fragmented, it only has some central signs… [this one] would be the third and would provide a lot of information."


The Tartessian alphabet has some lost letters, experts believe.

According to CSIC, there are 21 signs, or letters, drawn on the tablet. It is considered incomplete, and experts believe it once held as many as 32 symbols.

"At least 6 signs would have been lost in the split area of the piece, but if it were completely symmetrical and the signs completely occupied three of the four sides of the plate it could reach 32 signs, so the lost signs could become eleven or perhaps more if a possible sign, ‘Tu’, isolated in the lateral quarter, were part of the alphabet," Ferrer explained.

Picture shows the Casas de Turunuelo Tartessian archaeological site in Guarena, in the western Spanish region of Extremadura on April 17, 2024.

"After studying the images, everything indicates that it is a southern writing alphabet with the initial sequence ABeKaTuIKeLBaNS?ŚTaUE," he added.

Original article source: Carvings on ancient stone discovery leave experts in awe

Peso Rout Shaves $16 Billion Off Fortunes of Mexico’s Wealthiest


Daniel Cancel
Thu, Jun 13, 2024,

(Bloomberg) -- The rout in the Mexican peso after the stronger-than-expected victory by President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has delivered a blow to the country’s wealthiest business people

Since the June 2 election, the collective fortunes of five Mexican moguls among the world’s 500 richest people, including Carlos Slim and German Larrea, tumbled $16 billion to $153 billion through Wednesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The peso rose Thursday for the first time in three sessions — gaining 1% against the US dollar — though the currency is still down 8.5% this year.

The “super peso” under outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had buoyed the billionaires for the past six years even as other emerging market currencies weakened. Now the uncertainty around constitutional reforms that may be pushed through before he leaves in October is unwinding much of the gains.

While none of the proposed reforms directly target industries like telecom, mining and media that have minted their fortunes, the possibility of overhauling the judiciary could damage the rule of law in the country and sour the investment environment.

Among the top five, only Juan Beckmann, the patriarch behind the family that owns Jose Cuervo tequila, has seen his net worth increase, climbing $270 million to $7.2 billion.

Slim, who fell below the $100 billion mark after the vote and frequently met with Lopez Obrador, was seen chatting with Sheinbaum at an event this week at his museum in Mexico City.

Since winning the presidency, Sheinbaum hasn’t publicly acknowledged any sit-down meetings with local business leaders. Instead, she has shared photographs of meetings with representatives for international companies such as BlackRock Inc. and Walmart Inc.

--With assistance from Jack Witzig and Carolina Millan.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

Opinion: US Supreme Court Abortion Pill Ruling Is No Victory for Women’s Rights

Shan Wu
Thu, June 13, 2024

Evelyn Hockstein/Reuter

To borrow a phrase, the import of the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision preserving access to an abortion pill is akin to a “tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Handed down amidst the tempest over Justice Alito’s wife Martha-Ann’s habit of flying politically loaded flags at their houses while he rules on politically loaded cases, and further revelations of Justice Thomas friends-with-hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars-worth-of-benefits relationship to billionaire conservative Harlan Crow, the case could be seen as an attempt to show the high court can still act with unity even on so-called “liberal causes.”

The Fight Over the Abortion Pill Is Only Just Beginning

One could even speculate that Chief Justice John Roberts managed to persuade his charges to throw a bone to the left in preparation for a yet-to-come decision on Trump’s plea for presidential immunity that will at the very least punt any possibility that Special Counsel Jack Smith can try the Ja.n 6 case before the 2024 election.

But the reality of the ruling in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine is quite different.

On its face, Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared to revert to a more traditional approach of deciding cases on narrow grounds. Such a style avoids making big decisions whenever possible under the theory that it’s better for jurisprudential health to choose carefully from a buffet of legal choices rather than ravenously consume everything in sight.

Showing off the vigor of a more youthful style of writing, Kavanaugh invoked the ghost of Antonin Scalia in characterizing the doctrine of standing as being “What’s in it for you?” He analyzed whether the plaintiffs —an alliance of doctors and patients—had legal standing to challenge the FDA’s regulation of the drug mifepristone and the practice of it being mailed nationally. Mifepristone, a drug that blocks the hormone progesterone which is critical to pregnancy, is used with another drug misoprostol and accounted for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. last year.

Kavanaugh concluded that the plaintiffs’ assertion of “sincere legal, moral, ideological, and policy objections to mifepristone being prescribed and used by others” was not sufficient to meet legal requirements for “standing” to sue. His opinion also pointed that laws already exist that protect doctors from being forced to provide medical treatment that may be “against their conscience.”

The technical nature of the decision, which avoided weighing in on either the legal or moral merits of the debate over abortion, likely made it easier to get unanimity among a court split along liberal and conservative lines. That split reached a zenith last year in the Dobbs decision in which the conservative majority overturned a half-century of protection for women’s right to contraception.

Today, abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy in 14 states, and after about six weeks of pregnancy in three others, often before women realize they’re pregnant. But the very fact that the decision was decided on technical grounds means that the case is no victory for women’s rights, nor a hint of how the high court will ultimately rule on the abortion drug issue.

Zero doubt exists that the issue is returning to the justices, given that the opinion left room for legal action by three red states—Idaho, Kansas and Missouri—which the extreme-right trial judge had allowed to intervene in the case. Still to come this term is a case to be decided about whether emergency rooms must provide abortions in critical situations.

SCOTUS also skirted the issue of whether the mailing of abortion medication violates the Comstock Act of 1873 which prohibits the mailing of contraceptive aids. As pointed out in Slate, by Dhalia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern, “Conservative lawyers and judges are foaming at the mouth to revive this zombie anti-vice law, which puritanical male legislators enacted during a fit of moral panic about women’s equality.”

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses during a group portrait at the Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., October 7, 2022.
Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo/Reuters

When the high court does finally reach the Comstock law issue, keep an eye out for Justice Alito’s love of ancient misogynistic legal minds like Sir Matthew Hale, the 17th century witch-hunter Alito lovingly cited in Dobbs. The founder of the Comstock law, Anthony Comstock, was a fervent Christian who believed that contraception promoted lust and lewdness, which ought to make Justice Alito drool with fan-boy delight.

The avoidant nature of the unanimous decision may give Chief Justice Roberts some brief respite from the fracturing sounds of a court coming apart at its foundation, and also maybe give the Republicans a little help in making abortion less of an election issue. But the concurring opinion by Justice Thomas makes plain that there is no peace at hand for the conservative Christian warriors on the high court.

In a completely needless concurrence, Thomas pointed out that the very concept of “associational standing” deserves critical legal scrutiny. Thomas makes no effort to hide his real agenda when he writes: “So, just as abortionists lack standing to assert the rights of their clients, doctors who oppose abortion cannot vicariously assert the rights of their patients.”

Note how Thomas does considers patients of “abortionists” to be less than patients. With this assertion, Thomas signals his belief that associations like the NAACP should not be able to sue on behalf of their members. In other words, individuals would need to come forward and sue in their individual capacity. As pointed out by NYU law professor Melissa Murray, this was precisely why the doctrine of associational standing was asserted in 1958 by the NAACP, which argued that making individuals file cases would expose them to threats of violence. She makes plain that Thomas’ attack on the doctrine is a way to restrict civil rights lawsuits.

Ironically, that 1958 NAACP case was argued by a young lawyer and future Supreme Court Justice named Thurgood Marshall. It is Marshall’s seat on SCOTUS that Thomas took over.

DESANTISLAND

Disney is once again giving money to anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans who passed the "Don't Say Gay" law

Nicholas Liu
Thu, June 13, 2024 

Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Castle AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Image
The Walt Disney Corporation, which runs a theme park fiefdom in Orlando and wields outsized clout in Florida politics, is once again donating money to state politicians after a two-year hiatus following the fallout over "Don't Say Gay" legislation.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the recipients include Republicans who supported the law that banned discussions about LGBTQ+ issues in public schools through third grade, even though the company, under pressure from its employees, previously opposed the measure, officially called the Parental Rights in Education bill.

Disney has now shelled out $87,000 in political donations, according to the most recent campaign filings, most of the money going to political committees connected with state lawmakers, including state Rep. Josie Tomkow, state Sen. Jason Brodeur and state Sen. Joe Gruters, all Republicans who voted for the "Don't Say Gay" legislation.


Disney did not respond to a request for comment.

Despite allegations from the right that it has aggressively promoted liberal causes, Disney did not initially take a public position on the "Don't Say Gay" law, sparking protests from its employees, who urged the company to use its political influence to protect LGBTQ+ workers and their families. In response, then-CEO Bob Chapek called the bill a "challenge to basic human rights," apologized to the employees for not taking action sooner and, beginning in March 2022, suspended Disney's political contributions.

Disney, until then one of the largest political contributors in Florida (giving $55 million over the past 28 years), also vowed to push for the law's repeal, provoking GOP lawmakers and Governor Ron DeSantis to deride it as a "woke corporation," hit back at the company with a law that stripped Disney of its special tax-exempt status, and even pass other measures to punish Disney employees.

Disney sued Florida, arguing that the state was infringing on its First Amendment rights. But the two sides eventually came to a settlement, opening up another round of negotiations over the development agreement between the company and a board appointed by DeSantis to oversee the Disney-run district that encompasses Walt Disney World. Disney, for its part, agreed to drop its two state lawsuits and put the brakes on a federal lawsuit.

Since then, Disney and DeSantis have enjoyed a détente of sorts, with DeSantis cooling his anti-Disney rhetoric and even floating a fifth Disney theme park in Florida. He also appointed his former legislative director, Stephanie Kopelousos, to lead the newly constituted Disney World’s Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD), a move apparently designed to appease the company. Kopelousos previously helped insert an exemption for Disney into a 2021 bill pushed by DeSantis to crack down on Big Tech companies, although the exemption was later pulled after the Disney-DeSantis feud broke out.

Disney, which is anticipating a major, $60 billion expansion in its theme park operations in Florida and across the globe, reached an agreement with DeSantis on Wednesday night, which allows the company to invest $17 billion in planned development at Walt Disney World without interference for the next 15 years.

Moreover, Disney counts on the support of the state to maintain a privileged status that exempts them from a host of taxes, regulations and fees, and allows it to exercise the powers of an autonomous government, including the issuance of bonds and oversight of its own firefighters. Those, of course, are all on the table of ongoing negotiations over the development agreement.

Even before the donations were revealed, the company's potential reversal was previewed in a shareholder meeting in which a proposal to require the company to be more transparent about its donations was voted down. The vote was met with backlash from some shareholders, who feared that Disney might once again give money to Florida Republicans.

“We believe it’s time for Disney to provide accountability to shareholders that it is spending its political dollars wisely and in alignment with its core principles and interests,” Laura Nixon, an official from the Educational Foundation of America, a shareholder group that funds progressive causes, told Florida Politics. “In recent years, Disney contributed over $100,000 to an administration that took aim at Disney’s employees, mocked the company’s values at a national level and then punished Disney by diminishing its tax breaks and degree of self-governance.”



Disney's feud with DeSantis is over — and it's donating to Republicans again

Grace Eliza Goodwin,Lauren Edmonds
Updated Thu, June 13, 2024 


Disney is once again donating to politicians — just months after ending its feud with Ron DeSantis.


It's even donating to Florida Republicans who voted for the state's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill.


Disney executives' opposition of the bill sparked a yearslong conflict with DeSantis.

Since ending its feud with Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, Disney has wasted no time donating to Republicans again.

The Walt Disney Comany gave more than $87,000 worth of in-kind, or nonmonetary, donations to political committees, including Republican lawmakers, in the months of April and May, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

That's an about-face for the House of Mouse, which had paused political donations as it brawled with DeSantis.

The yearslong feud first started in 2022 when Disney executives publicly opposed DeSantis' bill — which has since been signed into law — that restricts discussions of gender and sexual orientation in classrooms.

Critics called the legislation the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

In response to its opposition, DeSantis grabbed control of the board that oversees Disney World's special tax district, renaming it the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District and replacing all of its board members with his own.

Disney, in turn, sued, arguing it was being politically targeted; DeSantis' board sued right back.

The legal back-and-forth finally ended in March when DeSantis' handpicked board agreed to settle the lawsuit brought by Disney.

Now, ironically, Disney is supporting some Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of the so-called "Don't Say Gay," bill, the Sentinel reported.

That includes an in-kind donation worth more than $16,000 to Florida Farmers and Ranchers United, a group associated with Rep. Josie Tomkow, campaign-finance records show. Tomkow voted for the bill, officially called the Parental Rights in Education Act.

Disney also gave about $10,000 each to two committees affiliated with the Republican state senators Jason Brodeur and Joe Gruters, campaign-finance records show. Both state lawmakers also supported the controversial bill.

Though Disney has resumed in-kind donations, Sen. Geraldine Thompson, a Democrat, has said Disney headquarters has not yet approved monetary donations, the Sentinel reported.

Perhaps the most significant sign of a final détente between Disney and the DeSantis administration came Wednesday when the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District approved Disney's $17 billion development deal.

The deal allows Disney to spend billions on its Walt Disney World properties in the next 10 to 20 years, potentially on an expansion to build a fifth park.

Disney, in return, must award half of its related construction work to Florida-based businesses and spend $10 million on "attainable housing projects." The company must also donate 100 acres of its land to the tourism district.



Disney and DeSantis end conflict with deal on 15-year expansion plan

NY Post
Thu, June 13, 2024


Disney and DeSantis End Conflict , With Deal on 15-Year Expansion Plan. Disney and DeSantis End Conflict , With Deal on 15-Year Expansion Plan. Disney and the Florida governor have been at odds since 2022, when Disney's former CEO, Bob Chapek, criticized Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law. Disney and the Florida governor have been at odds since 2022, when Disney's former CEO, Bob Chapek, criticized Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law. From that point on, Gov. DeSantis seemed to do whatever he could to make it difficult for Disney to operate and expand in Florida. But the two parties have finally reached an agreement to end their feud, Reuters reports. . The Walt Disney World Resort will be allowed to continue development in the Orlando area for the next 15 years. The company said it would shell out at least $8 billion over 10 years, . and $17 billion over the next 10 to 20 years. . Disney will also grow its affordable housing initiative and make sure that at least half of its spending for the project goes to Florida businesses. Additionally, the company will be allowed to build another theme park, add more retail and office spaces... and expand its hotel rooms by about 14,000. Disney President Jeff Vahle issued a statement. This new development agreement paves the way for us to invest billions of dollars in Walt Disney World Resort, , Jeff Vahle, Disney president, via statement . ... supporting the growth of this global destination, fueling the Florida economy, and allowing us to deliver even more memorable and extraordinary experiences for our guests, Jeff Vahle, Disney president, via statement

GOOD OLD FASHIONED;'DIRTY TRICKS'

White House Slams New York Post For Cropping Video To Make It Seem As If Joe Biden Was Wandering Away At G7 Summit: “They Just Lie”

Ted Johnson
Fri, June 14, 2024

The White House is slamming the New York Post for pushing out a video on social media, and later a cover story, claiming that President Joe Biden wandered off as he and other world leaders watched a skydiving demonstration at the G7 summit in Italy.

The Post video came with the message, “President Biden appeared to wander off at the G7 summit in Italy, with officials needing to pull him back to focus.”

But White House spokesman Andrew Bates noted that the video that the Post shared was cropped, missing the context of what Biden was doing: Speaking and congratulating another skydiver as some of the other world leaders were observing a separate diver.

Bates shared the video with the wider angle and wrote, “The Murdoch outlets are so desperate to distract from @POTUS‘s record that they just lie. Here, they use an artificially narrow frame to hide from viewers that he just saw a skydiving demonstration. He’s saying congratulations to one of the divers and giving a thumbs up.” Bates also included the Post’s video edit.

The video was shared across media on the right, including for a digital story written for Sinclair Broadcast Group’s The National Desk for posting on local station websites. That story picked up on the Post’s cropped video. The story also referred to claims of an incident last week of Biden at D-Day celebrations. The video showed Biden pausing before sitting, in what right wing figures claimed was the president’s confusion over a non-existent chair. In fact, a longer version of the video shows the president’s pause was as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was about to be introduced. The video then showed Biden taking his seat in that very spot.

The New York Post also featured the G7 incident for the cover of its print edition, with the headline, “Meander in Chief.”

Bates later wrote on X, “Rupert Murdoch remains jealous of a younger man running a more complex operation.”

A spokesperson for the Post, owned by News Corp., did not return a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for News Corp.

“Beware cheap fakes … and all the bad faith actors who post them,” wrote White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt.

Last week, Sinclair stations picked up a story in The Wall Street Journal that reported that Biden was “slipping,” with accounts of the president during certain meetings with lawmakers. But the White House and other critics noted that the story included only one critical on-the-record source, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

The site Popular Information compiled videos of Sinclair anchors in different markets reading identical copy about the Journal story. Morning Joe, among other outlets, featured the compilation.

Sinclair called the criticisms “outrageous and offensive” and claimed that it had “covered this story from both sides of the political aisle.” The script included some of the pushback from Democrats over the Journal story. The station group also defended the use of the same script across stations, calling it a “common practice in the industry” and noting that  affiliates “often use a preproduced script for a package that has been provided by a different media source.

Tyson Foods heir suspended as CFO after second alcohol-related arrest

This Nov. 6, 2022 booking photo provided by the Washington County, Ark., Sheriff's Office shows John Tyson, Tyson Foods chief financial officer, following his arrest for public intoxication. Tyson was arrested again on Thursday, June 13, 2024, for DWI.

 (Washington County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

DEE-ANN DURBIN
Updated Thu, Jun 13, 2024,

Tyson Foods suspended its chief financial officer – a great-grandson of the company’s founder – after his arrest Thursday on charges of driving while intoxicated.

John R. Tyson, 34, was arrested early Thursday by University of Arkansas police in Fayetteville, Arkansas, according to police records. He was also charged with careless driving and making an illegal turn.

Tyson was released from custody later Thursday on a $1,105 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on July 15.

Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods said in a statement Thursday that it was aware of the arrest and immediately suspended John R. Tyson. He is the son of Tyson Foods Chairman John H. Tyson and a former investment banker who joined Tyson Foods in 2019.

Tyson Foods named Curt Calaway as its interim chief financial officer. Calaway has had an 18-year career at Tyson, most recently serving as treasurer and senior vice president of finance and corporate development.

It was the second time in less than two years that John R. Tyson was arrested on alcohol-related charges. In November 2022, he was charged with public intoxication and criminal trespassing after allegedly entering a stranger’s home in Fayetteville and falling asleep in her bed.

John R. Tyson sent a companywide email apologizing for that incident, saying he was embarrassed and was getting counseling for alcohol abuse. He later pleaded guilty to those charges and settled them by paying fines and court fees.

Arun Sundaram, an equity analyst with the financial research firm CFRA, said John R. Tyson had been considered a potential future CEO, a role that historically has been held by Tyson family members. But Sundaram said there are now “legitimate concerns about his ability to continue as an executive officer.”

Sundaram said Calaway would be “an excellent choice for Tyson's permanent CEO should the company decide to part ways with John R. Tyson.”

Tyson shares fell 1.5% to close at $53.86 Thursday.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for TYSON FOODS